TRPG General Chat

user362639

00:00

He probably was at some sorta club

user362639

hmm...

user362639

I like chess so lets say he and his team won the magic chess championship mostly becasuse of him

nitsua60

And thanks @MikeQ, too.

user362639

yah @MikeQ your very helpful

Mike Q

@nitsua60 Note: In case Salty dies, my backup character concept is now "former all-star Magicball player", and we'll decide what that means later on

nitsua60

00:02

@MikeQ Definitely was All-State in a smallish state during high school, eh?

Mike Q

You know. Magicball. The one that wizards play. With the magic, and the ball.

user362639

when you say magic ball all I think about is quidditch

user362639

@nitsua60 I didn't realize you were here

user362639

Ive spent almost all day on this computer

user362639

just talking

Mike Q

00:05

@Mustachachu I could give you some example character concepts that I've enjoyed, if you like. It is a near-universal truth that tabletop players enjoy talking about their favorite characters and moments.

nitsua60

(what's the magic to append to YT links for the time-start again?)

@Mustachachu Just got back.

user362639

of course I would like to hear your concepts @MikeQ

Mike Q

@nitsua60 I think it's "?t=<number of seconds"

user362639

I know there is a concept of literally being the luckiest wizard ever

user362639

got it from the magic spell book

Mike Q

00:06

@Mustachachu My favorite was a barbarian who considered himself the world's mightiest doctor, and would became enraged by bad hygiene or anyone questioning his medical credentials. His weapon was a "greatscalpel". Eventually I multiclassed so he would get healing spells.

nitsua60

@MikeQ This is magicball

Mike Q

@Mustachachu Another time, we did a haunted house game, so I went with a ranger with a great dane companion, specializing against undead. I lost count of how many times I said "Like, zoinks!" in that game.

user362639

LoL the pool shots

user362639

That awesome

Mike Q

@Mustachachu Currently I have a bard who talks like an old pirate. When using spells with verbal/speech components, he insults his enemies and calls them salty hornswogglin' landlubbers and whatnot.

trogdor

00:09

@nitsua60 quick, copyright that

XD

Miniman

@nitsua60 All good - I would've pinged you to delete them all, but it didn't look like you were still around. And sadly we can't add any explanation for chat flags, so that's not really a workable option for this sort of thing.

user362639

Somebody in chat was talking about a wizard pirate that had a glass eye that was his arcane focus

user362639

I going to restroom be right back

Mike Q

@Mustachachu Back in earlier editions there were more character options, so you could have even sillier concepts

user362639

awe../

Mike Q

00:13

My all-time favorite was my friend's character, a paladin who thought he was hallucinating the other party members because they kept polymorphing themselves or turning invisible

user362639

were they all wizards and druids

user362639

:D

Mike Q

They were all spellcasters of different types. It was in 3.5e, so it had classes that don't exist in 5e.

user362639

ok dooky

user362639

I would think it would be pretty cool to make a avenger

user362639

00:16

I would probably make a monk who was very religious

Mike Q

@Mustachachu The Vengeance paladin is a pretty close approximation

user362639

yeah but most talk about like he used lighter armor

Mike Q

Paladins don't need to wear heavy armor. You could have a dexterity-focused paladin, wearing light armor and using a finesse weapon. Divine Smite requires a melee weapon, not necessarily a strength-based weapon.

user362639

and was more of a religious offense character

user362639

yeah

user362639

00:19

you could use lighter armor and finesse weapons

Miniman

@nitsua60 Incidentally, I pinged you in Discord - nothing important.

user362639

I never played him

user362639

I was just thinking of ways to recreate him

Miniman

When you get right down to it, everyone in 5e is an Avenger.

user362639

and mostly when i think of a paladin I think of more of a tank than mostly offense

user362639

00:23

oh well...

user362639

I'm excited to go to AL tomorrow

Luke Sommers

@MikeQ Jokes on you my alignment was always chaotic

Mike Q

@Miniman ...Is there a follow-up or punchline to this statement?

Miniman

10

Q: What is the origin of Dis/Advantage in D&D 5?

I was listening to a podcast on D&D 5 discussing its design. They mentioned the mechanic of Dis/Advantage as being one of the coolest aspects of the game. I was wondering: Is this innovation created by the D&D 5 designers, or did this pre-exist in prior role playing games in a recognizable form? ...

user362639

yeah explain how if I went right down to it all the characters are avengers in 5e

Mike Q

00:28

All characters are avengers in Mutants & Masterminds because you can literally be The Avengers

Miniman

@Mustachachu The Avenger's signature mechanic went on to become 5e's core mechanic.

Luke Sommers

orcpub2.com/pages/dnd/5e/characters/17592273683832?frame=true

user362639

@LukeSommers is that the performer who got the strange book/ the warlock

Luke Sommers

Yeah

user362639

how do I make my character on this site

user362639

00:32

I will send it

trogdor

@Miniman that's kinda sad really,...

Luke Sommers

The site I was using?

user362639

yes

Miniman

@trogdor ?

trogdor

Taking just one mechanic from 4e and pasting it all over 5e

Luke Sommers

00:34

orcpub2.com/pages/dnd/5e/character-builder

trogdor

Mostly I speak as someone who likes 4e

user362639

also this might sound stupid but how do I give the link @LukeSommers

trogdor

It isn't a bad thing to use but it's hardly the most outstanding 4e mechanic

Luke Sommers

You click View and then there's a little symbol that you can click

Miniman

@trogdor I mean, I get what you're saying. But I do like "hey, this thing was cool - let's use it".

Luke Sommers

00:36

Says WA

user362639

where does it say view on orc pub or here and where on the site

trogdor

@Miniman so my point is, .. they took "roll two dice and take the highest" and were like " ok that does it for the 4e section"

Luke Sommers

@Mustachachu After you make a new character, it's in the corner of the character thing

Click Open first

mxyzplk

Everything old is new again - Over the Edge is kickstarting a new version! kickstarter.com/projects/atlasgames/…

user362639

k also it treats the subrace highelf like it is its own race

trogdor

00:38

@Miniman it's a good idea but it highlights to me the whole thing about hating 4e for it's unique differences

Luke Sommers

Yeah, it does that.

mxyzplk

And Tynes is even kickstarting a delta green supplement. It's like 80's bands, none can ever really retire

trogdor

I can definitely see why that was a confusing tie in without the explanation though

Miniman

@trogdor Well, that's not really true. They also took hit dice, short rests (encounter powers), and...probably some other stuff I'm not remembering right now.

user362639

@MXYZPLK

mxyzplk

00:39

oh jeez even The Fantasy Trip is kickstarting... what am I gonna do with all my old games now?

Luke Sommers

@Mustachachu Did you find it?

mxyzplk

YES

user362639

@mxyzplk THANK YOU

mxyzplk

sure!

trogdor

@Miniman they changed how all of those work

But fair enough

mxyzplk

00:40

which is your drug of choice, Tynes?

Luke Sommers

Caffeine

trogdor

@Miniman encounter powers?

Miniman

@trogdor Well, yeah. They changed how advantage works, too. But they're all recognizably 4e elements.

user362639

@LukeSommers Can't find it but will continue looking after I make the full character

trogdor

All I've seen is spells

user362639

00:41

making character

mxyzplk

oh you mean for the q&a... sure enough. one of my best gaming friends was from clarksville

Luke Sommers

Is there a way to post pictures on here?

Miniman

@trogdor Anything that comes back on a short rest (like your Channel Divinity) is supposed to be functionally an encounter power.

mxyzplk

@LukeSommers click upload next to "send"

below

Luke Sommers

I don't have that

trogdor

00:42

@Miniman ah ok, I must not have that because we are still level 2

user362639

Im pretty sure. some one showed a owlbear cub

user362639

getting character sheet

trogdor

@LukeSommers it's when you have the link in your chat bar for the image

Then you press upload on the bottom right

Miniman

@trogdor Oh yeah, that's a level 3 feature.

mxyzplk

Kickstarting now: new versions of Fantasy Trip and Over the Edge and a new Delta Green supplement from none other than John Scott Tynes.

2

^ star me if you would!

trogdor

00:46

@Miniman mk

Luke Sommers

Ah I can't send screenshots

Mike Q

@Mustachachu What other systems have you played other than D&D 5e?

user362639

does munchkin count

trogdor

@LukeSommers ah from your computer directly, yeah I dunno if that works

Mike Q

@Mustachachu Not really, but I'll count it anyway

Luke Sommers

00:48

@Mustachachu Have you finished it?

user362639

what would you suggest I play

Mike Q

Lots of games. I was asking because you mentioned Avenger, so I thought maybe you were coming from 4e.

Luke Sommers

orcpub2.com/image/world-anvil.jpeg The button looks liek this

Like*

Under "Characters", click Open. Then click View. Once you do that, you should find the button that looks like the picture in the link I sent.

user362639

01:07

I was making the new race and just loss all progress

Luke Sommers

Go to My Content

Then look around

nitsua60

@Miniman Ah, I see. Yes... =)

Wrote back.

Oh, and I've got a bunch of stuff from some other people. Sorry =(

user362639

When I save my character race it instead of directing itself to the correct program it brings me to a different site

Luke Sommers

01:22

That's odd.

user362639

yeah

user362639

I really wanted to show you my character

user362639

do you know any other sites

Luke Sommers

Nope, sorry

Night guys!

user362639

Bye

user362639

01:26

now what to talk about

Shalvenay

hey @nitsua60 -- you about a bit?

user362639

what games do yall think I should try

nitsua60

@Shalvenay A little. What's up?

(I'm quad-plexing, but none of the four are huge deals.)

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 mind helping me workshop a post for another Stack a bit?

nitsua60

@Shalvenay fire away. Where? NAB? A doc? Git?

Shalvenay

01:30

@nitsua60 I'll drop a pastebin in the NAB

user362639

man I have been on this computer from 6am to 8:30 pm

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 uh, I can't @ you in the NAB :P

nitsua60

I'll be right there.

Mike Q

@Mustachachu There are a lot of games out there. I would suggest one that is very un-D&D-like, where the system is built for something other than "Go into a cave, kill all the critters that live there, and sell their stuff for profit."

user362639

like what

user362639

01:35

also one of the reasons that I am more new to table top rpgs

Shalvenay

@Mustachachu do you know what you want the game to be? setting/genre/themes? or do you want the system to define that for you?

user362639

definitely like fantasy and games with magic. I like games of cooperation

user362639

do you know what call of cthulhu and if you do can you explain it

user362639

it seems like more of a mystery game

user362639

solving crimes and things like that

Mike Q

01:39

I've played Call of Cthulhu, it's pretty good. It's built for mysteries and investigations and suspense, rather than formulaic combat or accumulating magic powers; on the flipside, that means that the DM has a "less is more" approach compared to D&D - for instance, one monster chasing the characters can seem like an epic and tense encounter.

user362639

I'm confused if the characters are fighters or if there is a monster there try to stop it a different way

user362639

or they just RUN

BESW

Call of Cthulhu is about people in a "real-world-like" setting discovering existential horrors and dealing with the discovery that the universe is an uncaring and implacable place.

It's often played as a mystery game, but the system tries to accommodate many different playstyles.

For mystery games specializing in existential dread, I'd recommend Trail of Cthulhu instead.

Lovecraftesque or Cthulhu Dark are better for short atmospheric "run!" games.

nitsua60

@BESW Is there a term akin to "magical realism" used to describe that? "Horrific realism?" Though, I suppose, that's really most horror/suspense....

BESW

@nitsua60 Hmm, not sure.

Mike Q

01:42

@nitsua60 Historical fiction? The setting is real-world (usually) but they add occult stuff.

nitsua60

Probably doesn't really need a term.

BESW

Usually it's just "Mythos" or "Lovecraftian" but I'm really interested in getting away from any terms that tie back to HPL himself.

Shalvenay

@MikeQ that's not the right term either

user362639

so for example my party could be investigating about magic portals summoning creatures from another realm, and that a demon or devil had been opening them.

nitsua60

I'm thinking more broadly of "this is normal life, except- oh, crap! What is that thing that just ate my neighbor's face!?"

FreezePhoenix

01:43

@Shalvenay o/

Shalvenay

@FreezePhoenix hey there, what's up?

FreezePhoenix

Not much. Working on some code.

nitsua60

But I feel like that's "horror." The horror partially comes from the dissonance between what we expect from our protagonists' normal lives and what's happening in the fiction, so it can't be set in anything fantastic.

(Or, at least, it usually isn't.)

user362639

what is trail of cthulhu

BESW

yeah, "horror" is such a broad term as to be functionally useless.

nitsua60

01:45

@BESW 5:30 AM on a Saturday, kids are awake and hungry, wife's out for her long run. That's what everyone else is thinking of when they hear "horror," right?

=)

BESW

Trail of Cthulhu is a TTRPG about characters in a "real-world-like" setting, often historical, who investigate mysteries whose solutions invoke the existential dread of an uncaring world.

FreezePhoenix

Sounds like IRL

user362639

I really want to kinda open my boundaries because right now I am a 1 trick pony

BESW

It was created in response to Call of Cthulhu lacking much in the way of support for the "solving a mystery" bit in a constructive way.

user362639

I've only really looked into dnd when I learned about TTRPG

BESW

01:47

@FreezePhoenix Existential dread is tricky these days, because the original tropes and tools of the genre are no longer shocking.

@Mustachachu I'd recommend looking into games that focus on character drama, like Bubblegumshoe (teenage sleuths solving mysteries that don't invoke existential dread, but require navigating their town's complex social structures).

user362639

bye going to eat food take shower and go to bed keep commenting suggestions

Mike Q

World of Darkness and some of its modules are pretty fun

BESW

Misspent Youth is about friends overturning a dystopian regime, and what they gain or lose along the way.

trogdor

@nitsua60 lol (especially to those of us without wife or kids :P)

BESW

UnWritten is about exploring forgotten worlds and puzzling out their secrets (Myst franchise).

Mike Q

01:52

I like 40k stuff (Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader) which is like spacefaring scifi mixed with weird eldritch horror. Although I acknowledge it's not everyone's cup of tea.

BESW

Golden Sky Stories is about child-like supernatural animals trying to make people in their village happy.

Lady Blackbird is a swashbuckling romance adventure game.

Mike Q

Mutants & Masterminds is high-power superheroes with D&D-like mechanics except everyone is wizards and the game constantly explodes into absurdity

Masks is lower-power superheroes with more focus on intrigue and social mechanics

@BESW How would you describe Fate?

BESW

Fate on its own, without a setting module? Group-defined play around proactive characters who get into a lot of trouble trying to accomplish their goals but are good enough at what they do to get out of trouble too.

(UnWritten is a Fate module.)

Mike Q

Right. And compared to D&D (which is @Mustachachu 's only reference point) it's more character-motive driven, and challenges are sort of picked by the characters according to their strengths/skillsets, right?

Mike Q

02:10

There's 7th sea, which is swashbuckling and magic, but strongly driven by character motives, background, and personal stories.

Pixie

Speaking of D&D's focus on killing things in caves and selling their stuff... thinking about how/when to reward XP in a D&Dish game to support elements of a certain play style, but in a different context. My players and I are interested in the possibility of random encounters with a small chance of truly dangerous stuff (which is an element of West Marches play too), but this concept has its roots in GP advancement that incentivized not fighting whenever possible. Very much not modern D&D.

I'm enjoying the feel of risk in my solo game as is, and that's much harder on my character than I would be in a group game. I just fear that, at a certain point, retreat may just feel like a letdown, as it usually does in a D&Dish game. That's hero stuff you opted out of and XP you didn't get. Maybe not a problem in practice, but something I'm keeping in mind before I start.

BESW

@Pixie In my admittedly limited experience, the solution is to change the kinds of things you're risking with failure.

Make failure be something that changes the game, maybe even derails the story, but doesn't stop the game cold.

Mike Q

@Pixie Well sure. If there's a chance of stumbling into an impossible combat encounter, then there's a chance that the party will be forced to run away, and the GM may need to put effort into framing that as "Congrats you all survived, now what?" and not "You all failed because the monsters aren't dead, try again tomorrow"

BESW

When failure adds to the game and gives an answer to "what next?" then heroism becomes a more viable option in the face of devastating odds.

Pixie

Argh, just as I begin this, my phone threatens to die, and my power is out. I fear I won't have time to write responses right now, but hopefully my power returns in an hourish like it's supposed to. :P

Mike Q

02:16

And when experienced players get stuck in the mindset that their only option is to kill the monster that they saw, then it may be the GM's prerogative to drop hints to go somewhere else

Shalvenay

@Pixie ugh. what keeps killing your power? :/

BESW

@MikeQ I'm opposed to the praxis of hints. Direct table-level communication between participants is much preferable to the GM using their control over the game world as a kind of pantomime at the characters in order to communicate something to their players.

Shalvenay

@BESW yeah, hints don't translate very well from IC-space to OOC-space IME

Mike Q

I guess it depends on when to hint and how to hint

Shalvenay

@MikeQ if anything, IC hints should be reinforcement to what has been communicated at the table-level, not a substitute for open OOC communication channels

nitsua60

02:22

@MikeQ "Here are the three hints you track down. You might want to take notes at this point...."

=)

Mike Q

@Shalvenay Certainly. It's much more engaging for players to discuss and figure out things for themselves, rather than to rely on NPCs or narration for non-interactive exposition

But I'm trying to consider the case where the GM has (accidentally?) guided the players into an impossible challenge, and the PCs may not realize it because they assume they are equipped for any challenge presented to them

Pixie

Yay, power! I'll respond to these things when the internet kicks back on on the main PC. :P

Shalvenay

@MikeQ ah. yeah, that can be a bit of a sticky wicket to get out of for both the players and the GM

Pixie

@Shalvenay Saturday was a storm. Tonight's seemed like it might've been a planned outage since it started when it was clear, though a storm started during it, so no clue.

Shalvenay

@Pixie ah

Pixie

02:28

@MikeQ Yeah, but part of the problem I'm struggling with right now is I think D&D (at least the editions I've played, and the ones that have shaped the mainstream D&D culture the past few years) make that extra difficult because I feel like there is an implicit suggestion that you will be able to solve combat interactions with combat... because that's what the game is about, and that's what you get XP for.

trogdor

@Pixie just as a follow-up to our GSS conversation, everyone in our group has okay-ed having you join us for a game of GSS at some point if you are still interested whenever that ends up being

Pixie

@trogdor Oh, cool. Yeah, just let me know, and if I'm able to make the session I'd definitely be interested in trying it out.

trogdor

Mk

Mike Q

@Pixie Yes, I understand. I can't remember if the 5e DMG says anything about it, but there may be an XP reward for bypassing a combat encounter, such as sneaking around the monsters or whatever

Shalvenay

@MikeQ yeah, the 5e text says "overcoming" an encounter, which could very well be negotiating through it or sneaking around it

trogdor

02:31

We don't have a schedule for it,... We don't really have a schedule beyond showing up on discord every week, (we've missed the last few weeks too)

nitsua60

I frequently ask my (non-AL) groups "what have you learned about [setting|plot|villain|their own party/character(s)]" and use those answers to award XP at a similar rate to combat XP.

Mike Q

Speaking of power and kicking things, there's also Maid ttrpg, which is a rules-light system that often results in absurdist "slice of life" anime comedy scenarios

Pixie

@BESW Any examples of how you might do that?

BESW

@Pixie Hmm. In Gumshoe One-2-One, which is a twosies game, having the main character die would stop the game completely.

So if something game-stopping happens, it's not immediately game-stopping: you've been shot, it hurts, this is going to complicate EVERYTHING.... and if you haven't gotten it treated by the end of the current story, you die in the coda.

Similarly Fate's got the idea that "it's much more interesting to be captured than to be killed," while Lady Blackbird has a "dead" condition on your character sheet, but it's more like "presumed dead" and you'll be back.

Pixie

But, yeah, in general my issue isn't about communication; we're pretty open with that. It's more that I realize we have a lot of baggage with the system re: retreat and not fighting, and I understand how the system creates that baggage. (I've also already told my players that if they want their characters brought back should death occur, I'll find a way to do it.)

BESW

02:41

These are all forms of failing forward: you've been shot, so "what next" now includes "get medical attention." You failed to defeat the roc, so "what next" is "escape from its nest before the babies wake up."

You've fallen off the cliff into the river below, so "what next" is your triumphant last-minute return when everyone else needs you most.

Pixie

But that kind of gets into the territory of risk of character death being a thing that some players enjoy and part of the reason to play a game like this. That's something I'd have to discuss with my players more -- whether that is what they want out of this experience.

KorvinStarmast

02:56

@MikeQ I can probably come up with a sketch of magicball rules if you need them

Mike Q

03:07

@KorvinStarmast Somehow I feel like that defeats the purpose

Pixie

03:34

Touched base again with a couple of my players. One of them noted that they're a fan of fleeing from an OOC and IC standpoint, and the other was neutral on the toughness level of monsters. Still a couple more to hear back from, but if they're not too concerned about it, I'll worry about other things for now.

And if it turns out that character death is a desirable part of the experience, I'll also think about how to make that particular thing less game-stopping. For instance, maybe having characters prep easily accessible backups we can drop into convenient locations, since characters are very easy to make in this version of the game -- not a big thing to ask of them.

The group also really likes making characters in my experience (considered doing it even for PF games where it's a much more annoying process), so this may also increase fun. :P

trogdor

I've almost never found character death desirable as an outcome

Notable exception being in Great Ork God's

I think 2 thirds of my orks in that died and it was always still fun

Pixie

Hmm... it's not something I ever want to happen, but if I'm prepared for it in advance, the risk of it can be a lot of fun. And the risk is kind of no good without the actual possibility. It's kind of like... often I might want to play a JRPG where I can rez all day, and sometimes I might want to play a roguelike, or a game where I lose significant progress if I die. It's a different kind of tension. I just have to be in the right mood going in.

trogdor

Ah well if we are talking video games too, character deaths In Those usually only take away a little progress that you can get back or are reversable in RPGs

In tabletop RPGs like D@D though

They usually grind things to a halt, are less reversable at low levels, and might mean losing a character I was into all together

In video games at worst I can restart from a save point

Pixie

03:50

Heh, just using them as a comparison. Roguelikes tend to have permadeath, and I do have to really be in the right mood to want to do that. Mostly I play, I guess you could say roguelikelikes where the penalty hurts but you don't lose the whole character... and then I play them very cautiously. :P

In either case, it's a very different experience from a standard JRPG, but I can see the appeal. I just don't want to think I'm walking into a standard JPRG and slam into a wall of permadeath, if that makes sense.

And of course I can understand not wanting to lose a character at all.

trogdor

Ah that's strange because I actually really like some roguelikes

Pixie

Yeah, but it's a different kind of investment than a tabletop RPG, so I understand liking them but not wanting to lose an RPG character. Like I said, I was just using them as a comparison.

trogdor

Slaythe Spire and Enter the Gungeon are really fun even though you can die a lot in them

@Pixie yeah fair

Ben

@Pixie "Rogue Like Likes" sounds dangerous

trogdor

It's an entirely different investment for sure

Pixie

03:56

Ah, I keep meaning to try Enter the Gungeon.

trogdor

Along with everything else, in a roguelite/like I don't have to come up with a character personality, and role play them for the game to work

And those things increase investment in the character

@Pixie I love it

It's my favorite game right now

Ben

@Miniman That's what BotW was missing!

Like Likes haha

trogdor

It's got a Little problem with opaque mechanics, you don't know how the different characters work until you play it or look that up

Pixie

@Ben Oh, no. The worst kind of Like Like.

trogdor

And there are layers of secrets in the game that I feel they could have showed the beginning of in the tutorial, but once you get past that barrier to entry it's a deep gameplay loop

Pixie

04:01

@trogdor Heh, one of the reasons I have to be really in the right mood to play a roguelike is that I often wind up doing that anyway... even if I have absolutely no reason to.

trogdor

Ah XD

Fair enough

And to be fair, you can find a secret in the tutorial, but the game doesn't hint at all that it's possible or how to do it,....

Miniman

@trogdor What!?!?

trogdor

I am torn between thinking they should have and thinking maybe most people would rather find that for themselves

@Miniman hehehe, whoops

Pixie

Games like Rimworld are rough on me, too, but less because of individual death (as much as I do get attached to my colonists) and more because it's easy to get into horrific death spirals, and maybe at the end you've got one or two colonists alive but barely able to keep it together. :v So usually when said death spiral starts to happen... I start over, lol.

trogdor

@Pixie ooof rimworld yeah

Miniman

04:05

@trogdor Now I'll have to go comb the tutorial. And it wasn't like I was careless my first time through it, either.

trogdor

@Miniman mk, if you want a hint at some point,...

You can definitely find it for yourself but without knowing what it is that could mean some searching

I never played romworld, but I've seen some major death spirals on it

Pixie

@trogdor I kept trying and trying to get my colonists to not hit a death spiral due to starvation on their first winter. Just could not seem to get enough food together, even establishing hydroponics and pemmican early on. Then I just gave up and picked a place where you could grow crops year round. Success on that front. However, I accidentally only brought colonists who wouldn't clean. Things got... bad. :v

trogdor

It's sort of what I imagine Dwarf Fortess was like

@Pixie The big thing seems to be that literally anything can cause them

Pixie

Ah, I need to try Dwarf Fortress again sometime. I'm terrible with ASCII games, though, and I've still had trouble parsing the tileset mod. It's just a lot of info for my poor brain to process at once. :,v

trogdor

You can starve, run out of resources, get killed by animals or raiders, have a mood problem from hygine, and if anyone dies from any of the things that can kill your people,... Everyone else can start to go off the rails XD

Pixie

04:11

You can accidentally killer aliens.

trogdor

@Pixie I never played it, instead I got a lot of stories from my brother and one of my friends

Pixie

Discovering that was kind of fun, I have to admit. I mean, terrifying and traumatizing. But also "oh, so that's what that message I kept getting means."

trogdor

Horrible stories of dwarf mood swings and carp attacks

And giant hammer traps full of,

.... Carp

Miniman

You've read the story of Boatmurdered, I assume?

trogdor

Like apparently you could make or have or find a giant hollow hammer with dangerous dangerous giant carp in it

@Miniman I think so

Miniman

04:14

Boatmurdered.

trogdor

Carp seemed to be the leading cause of death for many forts

Miniman

Just in case anyone hasn't come across it.

trogdor

At least from the stories I got

Pixie

04:25

Ah, the great tale of Boatmurdered. It always makes me think of Elona now -- it's kind of an RPG/roguelike blend, but it had a thing where you could submit your alias (a title you chose from ones the game rolled randomly plus your name) to a voting box for people to vote on. But the server kind of broke, so it got stuck on the same names for years. I think you can't get the list to even come up anymore, but one of those names I looked at for years was Boatmurdered.

I forget their full alias, but a google search suggests it may have been Panther of Boatmurdered.

trogdor

Lol

trogdor

04:38

I always enjoyed the stories about dwarf fortress

Especially since they always seem to include the fact that the dwarfs themselves were just as weird as the creatures they had to interact with

Any of them can potentially get into a strange mood that produces a really random but supposedly high quality item

And thier royalty bans items made of certain material for seemingly extremely random or pointless reasons

XD

Pixie

Yeah, that's a lot of fun.

BESW

04:57

Deep in Neolithic South America, before the invading Conquistadors arrived, young warrior-women fight against threats both visible and invisible in... The Way of the Pukona. It's our latest Fate World of Adventure from Felipe Real! #PayWhatYouWant https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/248009/The-Way-of-the-Pukona-o-A-World-of-Adventure-for-Fate-Core?affiliate_id=24139

Tweeted by EvilHatOfficial on July 23, 2018 at 8:13 PM

kviiri

06:10

Mornin'

Ben

Arvynoon

kviiri

@trogdor Once my dwarves produced a hammer out of pig iron that bore no ornaments other than a picture of the very same hammer. Droste effect, I guess.

That said, pig iron is a very impractical material to work for any purpose other than refining into steel, so it must've been quite an impressive proof-of-concept.

trogdor

06:57

@kviiri oh they mentioned that too, that sometimes the image engraved is the item the image is on XD

I also liked the stories of items that had the image of another dwarf doing a legendary thing while simultaneously in the middle of suffering a horrible fate, or the epic depiction of someone on lunch break eating salad

kviiri

The problem I have with Dwarf Fortress is that the idea of playing it consistently outperforms the act itself

(which is sadly true with many games)

trogdor

you know I feel that way about it too

having, you understand, never played it

mostly because the descriptions I get of it always include the inevitable eventual failure of your fort

and to top that, the fact that there is so much you just can't control as the person playing the game

kviiri

It's even worse when one doesn't fail, because at some point you have ~100 dwarves and no idea what to do with them x)

trogdor

I am pretty sure if I were to try it I would find only annoying frustration at best

@kviiri that's fair

there seems to be no victory condition

kviiri

You could construct something huge and impressive, but that is limited more by the player's patience for micromanagement than the in-game resources.

trogdor

07:02

so if your fort never fails,... there is nothing to work for after a while right?

kviiri

There is a hidden challenge in the game, although finding it is likely to get your fortress ruined too.

Fans of the game at least used to have an obnoxiously rigid tradition to encourage newbies to find it without detailing the fact that it's likely to destroy one's fort.

"Hidden fun stuff" is the fanspeak name for this "victory condition" of sorts.

trogdor

oh I know

my brother and my friend called them "clowns"

an apparently hilariously appropriate name if you are scared of clowns

they said you had to dig deep enough to find them

and then they would throw a "party" that eventually traveled all over your fort XD

if that sounds like what you mean

kviiri

Yes

@trogdor I have a weird relationship with clowns... I'm not scared by them but I feel like I should be x)

trogdor

I used to be super scared of them as a kid

now I don't really like them too much but it isn't really fear anymore

I think I literally just don't find the paint and the weird outfit and such,... funny

or all that fun

kviiri

@trogdor This is actually what I was thinking of, in DF Wiki: spoiler URL

trogdor

07:16

no yeah that is it

the way they explained it to me sounds like this

kviiri

There's also a different but similar thing: spoiler URL

The former one has been removed, but it was a common suggestion for newbies to "ooh you found a hidden blade! Take it!" and then unleash a horde of demons upon your fort

(it seems to have been removed from the game, hence my sudden lack of spoiler warnings)

trogdor

ah

what they meant might have been both things really

also it looks like they can possibly bleed into each other

doppelgreener

08:01

Good morning! o/

Ben

\o Good Evening!

trogdor

08:35

\o/ jump up and down and wave and say time of day

.exe

doppelgreener

@trogdor Good ERR_DESCRIPTION_NOT_FOUND!

Ben

I think I came up with an idea for a xml/html script for just this

Where the script replaces a certain string of text with the appropriate phrase based on the user's system clock

And the tag is <Guten[tag]>

2

doppelgreener

i get it :D

Ben

I was extremely proud of that incredibly dumb joke haha

trogdor

08:59

@doppelgreener lol

@Ben I think you should be, it's a good dumb joke

not all the dumb jokes we make can be that good

doppelgreener

Speaking of dumb jokes I am really liking the answers to this question:

38

Q: Is there a maximum attainable beard thickness?

This other question asks if attuning to a Belt of Dwarvenkind grants the following benefit (and literally nothing else): you have a 50 percent chance each day at dawn of growing a full beard if you're capable of growing one, or a visibly thicker beard if you already have one. My questio...

dnd-5e magic-items

kviiri

That question feels like a Purim Torah question except in the wrong stack and at the wrong time.

doppelgreener

haha :D

user362639

12:15

weeeee

The Masked Rebel

o/

user362639

:D

The Masked Rebel

What's up :)

@Mustachachu

kviiri

@TheMaskedRebel What do you mean by this?

The Masked Rebel

@kviiri That ^

(edited the post)

kviiri

12:31

I still don't see what you mean, what do you mean it's not interactive?

The Masked Rebel

@doppelgreener I think @SmokeDetector should post in both places because Not A Bar isn't very active. Here is more active.

@kviiri Sorry for the confusion ^^

doppelgreener

Gotcha, noted

The Masked Rebel

thanks

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